Chaser: World’s Smartest Dog Knows 1,000 Words

Chaser is a border Collie who recognized about 1,022 names of individual items that include toys, according to international news sites. The K9 dog has surpassed the number of words that the legendary Alex the parrot knows.

ChaserImage Credit: Mark Olencki/FoxNews.com

It took three years for Psychologists Alliston Reid and John Pilley of Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. to teach Chaser the names of a lot of toys.

Border Collies are known to be a smart breed of dogs. However, Pilley said that the result of their research does not allow them to conclusively say that Border Collies are smarter than other dogs such as pit bulls or dachshunds.

Pilley reiterated that dog skills are result of a good training technique.

Based on their experience, they teach Chaser “about the learning of proper nouns” by placing an object on the floor that is very visible for the dog to see.

Chaser learned vocabulary by identifying random groups of 20 toys placed in another room and the Psychologists ask her to fetch them by name. The dog always identifies at least 18 out of 20 objects over several tests done over three years.